Sheep
Fetternear Lionheart
Saturday 4 September, 2010
Leo is our new Ryeland tup. We bought him today at the Rare Breed Sale at Thainstone. He's a shearling from Raymond Aitken's Fetternear flock, so he's white. There were no registered coloured tups (and no coloured females at all) at the sale and I was anxious that I wasn't left with no tup, but believe me, he's not second best.
Sheep in clover
Sunday 1 August, 2010
Since we took our sheep to Dalmore, we moved Carol's four Shetland x Ryeland gimmers into our field this morning. They are such a nice, friendly wee bunch and they followed the bucket all the way.
They've had such fun today - the pig hut has become the "gang hut". All four have used it as a shelter from both sun and rain today - it's been a bit changeable, weatherwise, you see. They've galloped the length of the paddock, then back again and played on the little mound of stones, watched the sheep in the other field and galloped up and down again. They'll be ready for their breakfast tomorrow, for sure.
Sheep in Sheepfold
Sunday 1 August, 2010
We moved our nine ewes and lambs to Dalmore this weekend. They're now in Sheepfold, our two acre field. The grass is pretty long, so I'll keep an eye out for dirty bums. We gave them all a squirt of Crovect on arrival to repel flies. I'm also introducing a garlic mineral block.
I discussed worming with our new vet, who recommended moving them, worm testing after 4-6 weeks and treating accordingly. He explained that the regime of worming then moving stock to clean grazing exacerbated the problem of wormer resistance, since all the worms excreted on the new pasture would be resistant ones. The faecal worm egg count can also test for fluke. I am keen to use as few chemicals as possible, without compromising the sheep's health and wellbeing.
No M
Tuesday 29 June, 2010
I got the Ryeland Flock Book Society newletter today. It said that the registration letter for 2010 lambs is N. Last year, it was L. I queried it and have been assured that it is N - M, for some reason, isn't used. Looks like Milly's in for a name change!
Buddy and Dickie go north
Saturday 19 June, 2010
Well, the boys have moved to Dalmore today. They loaded no problem at all and travelled well. They've had a squirt of Crovect to protect them from flies and I'll worm test them before they go out in the big field.
Meantime, they are in the small paddock that will eventually be the vegetable garden. They've settled in well and seem quite content. Dickie's such a sweetheart - he just loves a good scratch and a digestive biscuit.
Shearing
Saturday 29 May, 2010
Our sheep were shorn last night. We have a lovely bloke called Duncan who shears them - pity he doesn't go as far as Angus. Last year we had three to do, this year there were twelve, although four were Carol's Ryeland x Shetlands. However, Carol's seem to have inherited the Ryeland fleece!
I could hear Duncan muttering under his breath things like "Never seen as much bloody wool on a sheep", but he soldiered on. There were a couple of nicks but nothing serious and within ten minutes, they were all grazing. The lambs are the funniest because they don't recognize their mothers. Actually, I find it quite difficult to tell them apart, although I don't resort to sniffing their bums.
Finished lambing!
Tuesday 4 May, 2010
Jura lambed last night, well, early hours of this morning. When I went out at 6.30am, she was all done and dusted - tup lamb, on his feet, but looking a bit bedraggled. They're in a mothering pen now. I haven't seen him suck, but she's plenty of milk and his belly feels full. I'll check him in an hour. Jura's the spookiest of our ewes and doesn't really welcome human intervention so I don't want to stress her.
So, same as last year - two tups, one ewe, except Juno and Jura have swapped boy for girl and vice versa. I'd have liked more ewe lambs, as I'm trying to increase the flock size. However, Dan will be pleased as I don't now have an excuse for keeping the tup lambs and he'll get his freezer lambs.
Silly Milly again
Thursday 8 April, 2010
Well, Milly's now got the hang of this suckling lark and she is now out in the field, in the sun, with the rest of the flock. However, Dan found her in the water bucket yesterday, bleating her head off, totally stuck. She's a canny wee thing, though, and is perfectly confident with people.
The tup lamb is pretty sturdy and Jinx is doing him well. I wish Jura would get on with the job though.
I'm planning to sell Buddy at the rare breed sale at Thainstone on the 1st May. This is a bit of a learning curve for me, as I've never sold anything through a market before. I can't decide whether I should put a reserve on him or not, and if so, how much. I don't really want to go all that way and NOT sell him, but on the other hand, I don't want him to go for a fiver. I'll hate to see him go, but I can't realistically keep him.
Silly Milly
Tuesday 6 April, 2010
Juno's lamb, named Milly, is possibly the dimmest animal I have encountered. She's quite small and yesterdy, she was a bit bleaty. It seems she's perfectly good at sucking but not very good at latching on. Her mother is not terribly helpful - Jinx, by comparison, organises her legs to make it easy for het lamb to suckle - whereas Juno's static.
Anyway, both ewes are in small pens - the weather's not very nice and they are quite content - I think, for Ryelands, having your food put under your nose is some kind of heaven. I've been helping the lamb to suckle every couple of hours yesterday and overnight, so she's quite chipper and less bleaty. Hopefully, as she gets bigger and stronger, she'll manage by herself.
Groundhog day in the lambing shed
Monday 5 April, 2010
Juno and Jinx lambed last night. Jinx has been bagged up for days and, just yesterday, I noticed Jinx was too. Nothing doing at bedtime, I set the alarm for 3am.
Jinx had a single tup lamb, same as last year, but much smaller than Buddy was. Juno had twins - a tup and ewe - but the tup lamb died, despite my best efforts at ovine CPR. Last year, Juno had two tup lambs, but one was born dead. The other is Dickie, our companion wether.
Jinx's lamb seems bright, has a pretty full belly and is almost silent. Juno's lamb, Milly, doesn't seem to have got the hang of latching on and Juno isn't being awfully co-operative, although she has plenty milk. At least she's not knocking the lamb away.
